James and Ethel Gray Park- Spring clean up day 2015

Litter and illegal dumping in the James and Ethel Gray Park in Birdhaven, has been an issue for quite some time, turning this city jewel into a problematic area.

On 20 September Skin, Body & Health Renewal staff members, their families and some of their suppliers made a day of it picked up over 200 bags of litter and planted 55 trees in various areas of the park. We hope that we have made a difference and trust that this does not only have an impact for one day, but for many years to come.

Skin, Body & Health Renewal would like to take this opportunity to thank the following suppliers and organisations for making this day possible:

Peech Boutique Hotel for accommodating us on the day by opening up their premises to us for a morning coffee before we started with our environmental clean-up and tree planting initiative.

Sun Trees for supplying us with great quality trees, planning out the positions of the trees and guiding us to plant them correctly to ensure long term survival of the trees.

Melrose Birdhaven Community Active Protection (MBCAP) for their exceptional service on the day, we felt completely safe and well looked out for.

Inside Out Security & Living for looking after our vehicles on the day

Pikitup for supplying us with refuse bags for the litter picking

Johannesburg City Parks for allowing us to carry out this initiative

Councillor Jack Cooper, Ward 74 Johannesburg, for his support and attendance on the day

iHlathi, the Melrose-Birdhaven Conservancy and its members for their continued support, assistance with publicising our initiative to all of the surrounding community associations and attendance on the day.captured all the special moments of our day

Corporate Gift Shop who supplied our branded golf shirts for the day

The below companies collectively sponsored over R 60 000 in cash, which was used to purchase the trees, benches and dustbins for the park:

Fagron South Africa

Genop Healthcare

Mesoestetic South Africa

Allergan Pharmaceuticals

Leenyx

The Brokerage

Lycoderm

Lamelle

Galderma

M and F Business Furniture

Our next step is to erect recycled plastic benches and dustbins throughout the park, to make it more attractive for visitors and also to ensure that the park remains clean.

Skin, Body & Health Renewal would like to encourage the community associations and Johannesburg City Parks to address the problem of illegal dumping and vagrants in the park and find solutions that could work for all parties involved. We would also like to encourage the communities bordering the park and the schools in the area, to ensure that this project is sustainable and continues to make a difference in future, by organising regular clean-up projects, educating children with regards to recycling and the importance of trees and how to minimize one’s carbon footprint. Families should also visit the park more often during weekends; it represents an oasis in the urban jungle where you can spend true quality family time.